U.S. Law Enforcement Gains Direct Access
to Interpol Criminal Databases

WASHINGTON – The U.S. National Central Bureau of INTERPOL(USNCB) today announced
that it has provided the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Law Enforcement
Support Center (ICE LESC) in Burlington, Vermont, with direct access to criminal
records from law enforcement agencies in 186 INTERPOL member countries.

LESC is a critical point of contact for the U.S. law enforcement community. It
operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to provide information on the
immigration status and identities of individuals who have been arrested or are
under investigation for criminal activity. In 2006, the Center supported 800,000
inquiries from state and local law enforcement nationwide. At the touch of a
button LESC law enforcement technicians will now be able to search INTERPOL’s
indexes on foreign Fugitives, Stolen Vehicles and Lost/Stolen Travel Documents.

Historically, U.S. access to INTERPOL databases was limited to the USNCB, a
component of the U.S. Department of Justice and the official U.S. point of
contact for all INTERPOL matters. In an effort to bolster homeland security
through enhanced information sharing, the USNCB has initiated an ambitious
connectivity program to provide the 18,000 U.S. law enforcement agencies with
direct query access to INTERPOL data.

LESC’s access to Interpol data is made possible through a customized
international query on the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System
(NLETS). With more than 500,000 devices in the U.S. and Canada, NLETS
seamlessly connects 18,000 law enforcement agencies with close to 1 million
users, and transmits more than 50 million messages each month. The USNCB is
pursuing agreements with each state to incorporate INTERPOL database queries for
all NLETS users within a state’s jurisdiction.

LESC joins an ever-expanding list of U.S. police departments having direct query
access through existing law enforcement networks: New York City, Chicago, Los
Angeles, Boston, Miami-Dade, Houston, San Diego, Los Angeles and most recently
the Virginia State Police.

“Our goal is to provide direct, international query capability to each federal,
state, and local law enforcement agency in the United States and, ultimately, to
the officer on the street. LESC connectivity directly supports this goal.” said
USNCB Director Martin Renkiewicz. Renkiewicz is a senior ICE Agent, currently
serving a three-year term as USNCB’s Director.